Leveling attachment for harrows



(No'M0del.)-

L. D. OORSER.

LEVELING ATTACHMENT FOR HARROWS.

No. 448,502. Patented Mar. 17, 1891 /N VENTOR,

WITNESSES .'v 44.

A TTOHNE YS wr'rnn STATES PATE T rrron.

LEVELING ATTACHMENT FO R HARROWS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 448,502, dated March 17, 1891.

Application filed September 10, 1890. $erial No. 364,554. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LORENZO D. OoRsnn, of Ebensburg. in the county of Oambria and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Leveling Attachmentfor Harrows, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to an improved appliance to be used in connection with a harrow, and has for its objects to provide an auxiliary device which will be capable of adjustment with regard to the ground surface it engages, and that will level all inequalities which may exist after the barrow-teeth have operated on the plowed ground, and thus afford a more perfect result, the depth of toothed engagement of the harrow with the soil being also controlled by improved means.

To these ends my invention consists in the construction and combination of parts as is hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be made to the accompanying drawings, forming a portion of this specification, in which similar letters and numbers of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure l is a plan view of a harrow-frame and the leveling attachment with its connections thereon. Fig. 2 is a side elevation. in section, taken on the line 03min Fig. 1. Fig. is a detached and enlarged perspective view of a rocking bracket-frame which supports a caster-wheel on the forward end of the barrow-frame. Fig. 4: is a view of the forward caster-wheel and its forked supportingstandard, and Fig. 5 is a face view of a lever which connects the caster-wheel standard with draft devices for the harrow.

The barrow-frame A is preferably made in triangular form of wood or metal, and consists of a center beam 1, joined at the forward end by equally-divergent side beams 2, which are bolted together laterally, as at a, and are similarly connected to a transverse brace 3, which is located at a proper distance in advance of the terminal rear ends of the side and center beams of the barrow-frame.

Preferably the harrow-frame A is furnished with teeth I) of a shovel-blade form, which teeth are arranged in series on the beams 1 2, and, if desired, on the transverse brace 3 also, to agitate the soil, the depth of engagement of the teeth with plowed ground being regulated by means which will be described.

Upon the rear end portions of the center and side beams 1 and 2 arock-shaft ais supported by its j ournaled body and ends in the boxes 0, which shaft is provided with two cranks (Z, that are located one near each end of the rock-shaft, having equal throw and lo cated in the same plane, projecting from the same side of the shaft 4:, preferably toward the front end of the machine. (See Fig. 1.) Two wheels 5 of an equal diameter are jour naled on the pins 6 of the cranks (1.

Upon. the side beams 2 of the barrow-frame, near the brace 3, two similar bracket-frames 6 are erected. These each consist of two limbs g g, that are joined at their upper ends. One of the limbs g of each bracket-frame is attached at g to the side beam it rests upon and is rearwardly inclined to produce a staybraee for the other limb g, these latter-11am ed limbs being curved to produce forwardly-bent guides. whereon stout spiral springs h are placed. There are aseries of equally-spaced tooth-bars i loosely mounted to rock upon the shaft 4:, as at i, the lower portions of which are adapted to engage the soil, and to this end are curved so as to present their lower ends at a proper angle to the ground surface when adjusted to enter the same. The portions of the tooth-bars i that extend above the rockshaft 4: are forwardly and upwardly projected, having engagement at their upper terminals with the cross-bar 7, which serves as a headpiece to support the series of tooth-bars and rock them simultaneously upon the rock-shaft 4C and for convenience will be so designated.

Each end of the head-piece 7 is loosely connected with the guide-limbs g of the bracketframes 6 by the encircling staples 7V" or other similar means, which staples embrace the guide-limbs and rest upon the springs 71., that normally retain the headpiece 7 elevated and the curved lower portions of the tooth-bars 11 depressed, as shown in Fig. 2, the strength of the springs 7L being sufficient to cause the lower ends of the tooth-bars to enter the soil a proper depth for its stirring agitation.

As it is desirable to remove the tooth-bars t' from contact with the ground when the device is being transferred from its place of storage to the locality where it is to be used, there is a lever 8 provided for this purpose, which lever is pivoted on the head piece 7 at L and projects forwardly a suitable distance, so that the driver may reach its forward end from the seat 9, which is located on the center beam 1 between the cross-brace 3 and the forward end of the harrow-frame A. Upon the cross-brace 3 a spring-latch m or its equivalent is erected, which will engage the top edge of the lever 8 with its hook-nose formed on the side of the free upper end, whereby the lever will be removably secured in a de pressed position at this point, the springs h yielding to permit such an adjustment of parts. The rear end of the lever 8 is bent downward sufficiently to freely engage the rock-shaft 4: with its forked lower end If, so that the depression of the forward end of the lever, as stated, will depress the head-piece and rock the tooth-bars mounted on it.

On the front end of the center beam 1, that is preferably extended for the purpose, a rocking bracket-frame 10 is pivotally attached. Said bracket-frame consists of a single piece of metal, which may be cast or forged into form, the preferred shape being shown in Fig. 3.

As represented, the bracket-frame mentioned is comprised of a rectangular loop-bar n, open at the bottom, the side limbs of which loop looselyembrace the opposite sides of the beam 1. ()n the forward edge of the loopbar 92 two forwardly-curved integral parallel bars a are projected, which latter are sufficiently separated for their use, and on their front faces,at the center of each curved bar, an integral lug a is formed, these lugs having vertical and aligning perforations produced in them, as at n in Fig. 3.

The bracket-frame 10 is pivoted to the beam 1 at 11, near the lower ends of the loopbar '11, and near the upper corner of said bar a a connecting-rod 11 is loosely secured to vibrate the bracket-frame on the pivot-bolt named. A caster-wheel 12 of a proper diameter and width of face is provided; also, a standard 13, which latter is bifurcated to loosely receive the caster-wheel, that is revolubly secured between the limbs of the standard by a cross-bolt 0. Above the caster-wheel the body of the standard 13 is formed to loosely engage the perforations a" of the cars w the lower ear resting on the collar oof the standard. Between the cars a there is a dra ft-bar ll, mounted onthe body of the standard 13, a squared portion 0 thereon being fitted to a square hole 0 in the end of the draft-bar, so that a lateral swinging movement of the latter will correspondingly move the caster-wheel 11. \Vhen the standard 12 is in place and the other attachments connected to it, all may be revolubly retained on the bracketframe 9 by a nut on the upper end 0 of the standard, as shown in Fig. 2.

The rear end of the connectingrod 11 is jointed to an upright handle-bar 15, winch is loosely secured at its lower end 1) to the side of the center beam 1. Said handle-oar, which is thus adapted to be vibrated toward the front or rear end of the beam 1, 1s furnished with an adjustable slide bolt 1), (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2,) the lower end of which may be made to interlock with any of the notches q in the curved racl: (1.

An upright rock-arm 1G is secured firmly at its lower end upon the rock-shaftt, and to the upper end 7' of said rock-arm the elongated link-bar 17 is loosely secured, the other end portion 1 of which link-bar is forwardly extended of a proper length to have a pivotal connection with the upright handle-bar 10 above the rod 11,as shown in Fig. 3, the linkbar being broken in said figure to avoid interference with other parts it would obscure.

The relative arrangement of parts should be such that the caster-wheel l2 and rear wheels 5 Will retain the barrow-frame A in or near a horizontal plane when the harrow and its rearward attachment are in service, as shown in Fig. 52.

Should it be desired to deepen the draft of the harrow-teeth Z) and tooth-bars t', the rear ward adjustment of the handle-bar 15 will effect this, and a forward movement of the same bar will rock the caster-wheel 12 rearwardly and downwardly, and the rear wheels 5 will receive asimilar adjustment, which will elevate the harrow-frame A and diminish the depth of tooth-draft for the harrow and leveling attachment at its rear.

\Vhen the tooth-bars 2' are in contact with the harrowed ground, they reduce such lumps and slight unevenness of surface as is left by the action of the colter or shovel-teeth Z), that are preferably used on the harrow-frame A, so that the work is completed by one operation without requiring the ground to be cross-harrowed.

It will be evident that from the peculiar construction of the supports for the casterwheel12 said wheel can be changed in the direction of its progressive movement by the lateral movement of the draft-animals that are attached to the draft-bar 13.

\Vhen the machine is moved to or from the place of service over roads or grounds that are not to be harrowed, the wheels are all lowcred, so as to raise the harrow-teeth from the ground, and the lever S is depressed and secured, as has been explained, which will raise the lower ends of the tooth-bars i a proper distance to avoid ordinary obstructionsl Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. A harrow comprising a triangular frame having blades or teeth along its side bars, front and rear supporting-wheels, a transverse series of teeth extending across the rear end of the frame, each tooth being pivoted between its ends to swing vertically, a head to which the upper ends of said teeth are connected, and springs pressing the said head up ward and thereby forming cushions therefor, substantially as set forth.

2. A harrow having a transverse series of teeth extending across the rear end of its frame, each tooth being pivoted between its ends to swing vertically, a head connecting the upper ends of the said teeth, and springs pressing the head upward and forming cushions therefor, substantially as set forth.

3. A harrow having a transverse series of teeth across its rear end, the teeth being all mounted between their ends on a common axis to swingvertically, a head connecting the upper ends of all of the teeth, springs pressing the head upward and forming cushions, a lever having its outer end fulcrumed on the axis of the teeth, pivoted between its ends to the said head, and extending at its inner end toward the center of the frame, and

a catch for retaining the lever depressed, substantially as set forth.

4:. The rectangular open frame n,hav1ng the two transverse curved parallel bars n, each provided with a forward-projecting apertured lug n substantially as set forth.

5. The combination, with the open frame n, having two transverse curved parallel bars it, each provided with a fOlWtI'd-IJPOJGCUIDQ apertured lug 12 of the caster-wheel having a fork 13, provided with a vertical shank passed through the apertures in said lugs and having a squared portion 0 between said lugs, a shoulder or collar 0 below the lugs,a retaining-nut above the lugs, and the forward-pro- 

